According to the US Patent & Trademark Office, the invention relates to a “controlled material transport method for carrying materials to and from workstations, test equipment, and processing and assembly tools in a common facility. The present invention includes a rigid robot vehicle mountable to a passive track system, which can be routed to service all processing tools on the factory floor.”
It added: “The robot vehicle includes a hoist assembly and gripper assembly, which together perform such functions as picking up magazines, placing magazines, and loading magazines into the processing tools.”
An abstract of the invention, released by the Patent Office, said: “The hoist assembly is capable of functioning in an operational envelope, which includes any target location within a 3-axis Cartesian coordinate system, to the extent of the range of motion of the hoist assembly. The hoist assembly also provides rigid and controlled z-axis travel, while being compact when retracted. The gripper assembly facilitates loading of the magazines, especially chute style magazines, which are commonly found on many existing processing tools.”
The inventors were issued US Patent Number 6,889,813 on May 10 2005.
The patent has been assigned to Amkor Technology Inc., Chandler, Ariz.
The original application was filed on June 22 2000.
